Last week, severe flooding across Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota left approximately 360,000 acres of cropland devasted by 15 inches of rain. FRB's Iowa and Minnesota growing projects are currently dealing with damaged fields and flooded basements. Brent Koops' Photography documents the flooding in a few Iowa and South Dakota communities. Please join the FRB family in remembering these communities through this difficult time.

A fungus called la roya, or coffee rust, is creeping throughout Central America, threatening livelihoods for millions of coffee farmers. FRB’s Central American programs are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and the impact of la roya on the coffee industry. Farmer’s reliant on coffee production are challenged to reconsider a new path in life. To learn more, check out this article from the New York Times, “A Coffee Crop Withers.” Or, to make a difference, visit Equal Exchange, a fair trade organization that provides opportunities to support coffee farmers in Central America.

FRB's Central African Republic-Gamboula program faces unrest as a result of recent religious violence. This article, from The Evangenlical Covenant Church, provides the story from the perspective of Roy and Aleta Danforth, current leaders of the CEFA project. Despite feelings of hopelessness in the midst of tragedy, the Danforth's are reminded of love after visiting some of their friends at a refugee camp in CAR. See the original blog post below.

All of the Fulani friends of Covenant missionaries Roy and Aleta Danforth have been forced to flee the Central African Republic in fear for their lives due to the religious violence that is tearing apart the African nation.

Please pray for the people of Haiti as they struggle with the effects of multiple droughts and resultant severe food shortages. This article from the BBC covers another aspect of desperation from lack of prospects: risking their lives on crowded boats as they seek work elsewhere. It mentions the area of Haiti where FRB's Haiti-Northwest program is working to help farmer cooperatives achieve food security in the face of natural disaster.

Every year thousands of Haitians risk their lives trying to make the perilous sea voyage from their country to one of its wealthier Caribbean neighbours in a bid for a better life.

They cram themselves into small boats which are often far from seaworthy. They run the risk of capsizing or being picked up by coastguard patrols.

Many feel this is their only option in a country which is not only the poorest in the western hemisphere but which was further destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 2010.

People from all over Haiti head to the north-west of the island to get onto these boats to leave their homeland, but most are from this impoverished region itself.

While all humans may be created equal, they certainly do not have equal opportunities and access to food, water, healthcare and income. Watch this series of short videos by World Renew on their West Africa 1 Program and see how your life might be different had you been born in West Africa.

In celebratation of Earth Day, here’s a look at some programs that are improving community health through soap.

Development is complex, and is never as easy as 1-2-3. It must take into account many human factors – our diversity, experience, present realities, personalities, cultures – but that’s not all. Climate change, natural disasters, societal pressures, politics, global markets, environmental degradation from industry or local practices: all have an influence on how our program participants can adapt to change and adopt practices that will help them break the cycle of poverty. Even a seemingly simple practice like using soap promote health and hygiene may not be so simple for some people in our world.